There's no better excuse to spend an afternoon in the kitchen than by making these scrumptious sticky date and tahini buns, which put a new twist on an old favourite.

Recipes & Styling Natalie Homan | Photographs Brendan Homan

Sticky date and tahini buns
makes 9

The addition of the tangzhong (a technique originating from Japan) results in super soft buns that retain their freshness for longer – well worth the extra step.

for tangzhong
30g bread flour
125ml milk

for dough
150ml milk
20g caster sugar
7g dry yeast
1 egg
350g bread flour
60g salted butter, cubed, at room temperature

for filling
125g tahini
125g brown sugar
2 tbsp milk

for date caramel
8 dates, pitted
1 tsp vanilla paste
pinch of salt
½ cup milk

For tangzhong, place flour and milk into a small saucepan, mix to combine with a rubber spatula and cook over medium heat to form a thick paste. Place into the bowl of a stand mixer with milk, sugar and yeast and mix together over low speed with paddle attachment. Add egg and flour and mix to combine. Swap to a dough hook attachment and knead for 10 minutes at medium speed. Place dough into an oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and allow to prove until doubled in size (should take between 1 and 1½ hours).

Meanwhile, combine tahini, brown sugar and milk in a small bowl to form a thick paste for filling. For date caramel, place ingredients into a small high-powered blender and blend until smooth. Lightly spray 2 large and deep 6-hole muffin trays with cooking spray. Knock back the dough and transfer to a lightly floured bench. Lightly flour the dough and a rolling pin and roll out to a rectangle 30cm x 40cm, with shortest side closest to you. Spread dough with an even layer of tahini paste and roll into a log away from you. Cut into 2.5cm sections with a sharp knife and place each spiral into a muffin hole, slightly elevating its centre to encourage a dome while baking. Cover loosely with clingfilm and allow to prove for one hour. Preheat oven to 180C. Bake scrolls for 25-30 minutes or until deeply golden. Allow to cool in trays for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Once at room temperature, drizzle with date caramel before serving.

This recipe originally appeared in the July 2023 issue of SALIFE.